Ahmad Maryud is a lecturer at the University of Gadjah Mada and a PhD candidate at Goettingen University, Germany. This is a personal opinion.

If you had the chance to see the documentary movie “Timber Mafia” released by Journeyman Pictures in 2002, you would have some idea of the massive scale of illegal logging in Indonesia.

Although efforts have been made to crack down on illegal logging in Indonesia, it appears the problem is getting worse. It is hard to get accurate data on its magnitude, because there are no accurate records on it.

Estimates indicate that approximately 70 percent of timber sourced from the country is illegally harvested, amounting to a massive 50 million cubic meters. A high-ranking government official said the annual loss from illegal logging accounts for between US$600 and $1,500 million.

This accounts for over 1.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, as much as the contribution of “legal” forest products to the GDP. This loss is only assessed on the royalty that would have been paid if the timber had been legally harvested. Therefore, the total financial loss is much larger.

What are the underlying causes of illegal logging and how can we deal with it? Some analysts have mentioned market failure as a main cause. Markets for illegally-logged timber are so widely available, even in environmentally-concerned regions, that the legal markets can hardly function alongside the illegal ones!
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You might know Rocky, one of the most media-exposed orangutans. Perhaps you saw him with Fergie in a spread for Elle magazine’s July 2007 Music Issue. Or maybe you recall him in a tiara in a Capital One credit card commercial.

But you probably won’t be seeing orangutans on the television screen any more. And in about 10 years, scientists fear, you might not be seeing orangutans at all.

To counter a misconception that orangutans are not threatened, a myth fostered by their public portrayal, the Great Ape Trust in Iowa will now care for orangutans that have been transferred from the only remaining orangutan trainer in Hollywood. Those who would protect the apes see the move as a great victory.

“Seeing apes in entertainment may lead people to believe that conservation is not an issue for them,” said Robert Shumaker, the director of orangutan research at the Great Ape Trust. “If that diminishes concern for conservation, then that’s a problem.”
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The IUCN Red List of primates makes grim reading, says Conservation International president Russell Mittermeier. In a recent edition of BBC’s “Green Room,” he says the sooner we listen to the message that our closest living relatives are telling us, the longer we have to save ourselves.

“Monkeys and apes are trying to tell us something. After all, some of the non-human primates that share 98.5% of our genetic code can and do talk to us.

“Take Kanzi, for instance; this bonobo chimp understands thousands of words, uses sentences, expresses emotions and concern for others; even talks on the phone. Whether certain primates, such as chimps and other apes, use language the same way people do remains a matter of scientific debate.

“But one thing about primates that scientists agree upon today is that they are among the most threatened animal species on Earth.

“Results of the most recent global primate assessment have been discussed recently at the annual International Primatological Society meeting, held in Edinburgh, Scotland. The survey was done as part of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and it is grim reading.

“Nearly 50% of the world’s 634 primate species and subspecies are in danger of going extinct. The situation is most dire in Asia, where more than 70% could disappear forever in the near future.”
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A global review of the world’s primates says 48% of species face extinction, an outlook described as “depressing” by conservationists.

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species says the main threat is habitat loss, primarily through the burning and clearing of tropical forests.

More than 70% of primates in Asia are now listed as Endangered, it adds. Sumatran orangutans are rated as “Critically Endangered” and are included among the 25 most-threatened species, while Bornean orangutans are listed as “Endangered.” Indonesia, which is home to both species, is ranked third in the world among nations with the highest percentage of threatened species (84%).

The findings form part of the most detailed survey of the Earth’s mammals, which will be published in October.

Other threats include hunting of primates for food and the illegal wildlife trade, explained Russell Mittermeier, chairman of global conservation group IUCN’s Primate Specialist Group and president of Conservation International.
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